Gurkhas

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what the cost of the public purse has been of the Gurkha Settlement Office in Kathmandu since its inception;
	(2)  how many applications for settlement initially refused by the Gurkha Settlement Office have been accepted following re-submission through the Gurkha Army Ex-Servicemen's Organisation.

Kevan Jones: The Gurkha Settlement Office was opened in October 2009, using existing accommodation and facilities within the British Gurkhas Kathmandu base. It is staffed by four locally employed civilians. The cost of setting up and staffing the office to date is £20,000.
	The Gurkha Settlement Office was not set up to process visa application forms. It offers ex-Gurkhas and their dependants, free of charge, information about life in the UK, so that they can reach an informed decision about whether they want to apply for settlement in this country. If they decide that they do wish to apply, then the Gurkha Settlement Office provides support by helping with the completion of visa application forms and through liaison with the Gurkha Records Office to supply some of the documentation needed to support a visa application. he Gurkha Settlement Office has received nearly 4,000 visits and around 2,000 ex-Gurkhas and/or their dependants have registered on the settlement office database for help with their visa application. Visa applications are processed by the UK Border Agency, in their regional centre in New Delhi. Under the new immigration rules over 6,600 visa applications have been received from ex-Gurkhas and their dependants and over 3,650 visas have been authorised or issued. It is not known how many of these applicants may have sought help from the Gurkha Army Ex-Servicemen's Organisation (GAESO) when preparing their application forms.

Affordable Housing

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many Social HomeBuy sales have been completed in each  (a) local authority area and  (b) region in each year since 2005; and how many have been completed in 2009-10 to date.

Ian Austin: Table 1 shows the number of Social HomeBuy sales in each local authority area between April 2006 when the scheme started and March 2009.
	Table 2 shows the number of Social HomeBuy sales in each Government Office region between April 2006 and March 2009.
	During the six months 1 April 2009 to 30 September 2009, there were 59 completed Social HomeBuy sales by Registered Social Landlords. Figures for sales during this period by local authorities are not yet available.
	Social HomeBuy is a voluntary and demand-led scheme in which only some social landlords chose to participate. It is one of several options available to help social tenants into home ownership. Purchasers can buy shares of between 25 and 100 per cent.
	
		
			  Table 1 
			   Social HomeBuy sales 
			  Local authority area  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  Total 
			 Adur - 1 - 1 
			 Allerdale - 1 3 4 
			 Ashford - - 1 1 
			 Barking and Dagenham - 0 1 1 
			 Barnet - - 1 1 
			 Basingstoke and Deane - 3 - 3 
			 Bexley - 2 2 4 
			 Birmingham - 2 6 8 
			 Bradford 3 2 1 6 
			 Brent - 5 1 6 
			 Brighton and Hove 1 0 - 1 
			 Bromley - 5 2 7 
			 Burnley - - 1 1 
			 Camden - - 1 1 
			 Cheltenham - 1 - 1 
			 Chorley - 1 - 4 
			 Copeland - 1 6 7 
			 Coventry 0 2 1 3 
			 Crawley - 7 - 7 
			 Croydon(1) 6 3 8 17 
			 Dudley - - 1 1 
			 Durham - 1 - 1 
			 Ealing - 3 - 3 
			 Eastbourne - 2 - 2 
			 Eastleigh - 1 - 1 
			 Enfield - 2 - 2 
			 Greenwich - 5 - 5 
			 Hackney 2 12 1 15 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 10 4 1 15 
			 Haringey - - 1 1 
			 Hart - 2 - 2 
			 Hertsmere - 1 1 2 
			 Hillingdon 2 0 - 2 
			 Hounslow - 5 - 5 
			 Islington - - 2 2 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 3 7 2 12 
			 Kingston upon Hull 6 0 - 6 
			 Knowsley - - 1 1 
			 Lambeth - - 1 1 
			 Leeds 2 2 - 4 
			 Leicester - 1 - 1 
			 Lewisham - 1 - 1 
			 Liverpool - 1 - 1 
			 Luton - - 1 1 
			 Manchester 1 15 - 16 
			 Merton - - 1 1 
			 Middlesbrough 1 3 - 4 
			 Milton Keynes - 1 - 1 
			 Newham - 2 9 11 
			 North Hertfordshire - 1 - 1 
			 Oldham - 1 7 8 
			 Pendle - 1 - 1 
			 Plymouth - 1 - 1 
			 Redcar and Cleveland - 1 - 1 
			 Richmond upon Thames - 1 - 1 
			 Rochdale - - 1 1 
			 Sefton - 13 - 13 
			 Sevenoaks - - 1 1 
			 Sheffield - 1  1 
			 South Tyneside 1 2 1 4 
			 Southampton - - 2 2 
			 Southend-on-Sea - 1 - 1 
			 Southwark(2) - 21 4 25 
			 Sunderland - - 6 6 
			 Tameside - - 1 1 
			 Test Valley - 1 - 1 
			 The Wrekin - 2 - 5 
			 Tower Hamlets - - 2 2 
			 Tunbridge Wells - - 4 4 
			 Waltham Forest 1 0 4 5 
			 Wellingborough 3 1 - 4 
			 Welwyn Hatfield - 1 - 1 
			 West Berkshire - 1 2 3 
			 Westminster - 1 - 1 
			 Wirral - - 3 3 
			 Woking 1 1 - 2 
			 Wychavon - - 1 1 
			 York 1 1 - 2 
			 Grand Total 47 160 99 306 
			 (1) Croydon figure in 2008-09 includes four sales by the local authority. (2) Southwark figures include five sales by the local authority, three in 2007-08 and two in 2008-09. Source: Homes and Communities Agency 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2 
			  Region  Number of Social HomeBuy sales 
			 North East 16 
			 North West 61 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 19 
			 West Midlands 18 
			 East Midlands 5 
			 East 6 
			 South East 32 
			 Greater London 147 
			 South West 2 
			 Total 306 
			  Source: Homes and Communities Agency